The Ground Is Gone
by DrunkOnJerichohol
Summary: A strain of faulty choices and destructive behavior is enough to make Stephanie finally put her foot down with Chris, but he finds peace in a lesson well learned. (two-shot)
1. Locked in a Cell

******Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Any and all original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Stephanie's upper lip curled in disgust when she cast her eyes downward and discovered a gob of some unnamed, sticky substance residing near her foot. She shifted the opposite direction in her seat, rolling her flashing eyes before they landed in a flat glare as she rocked the bundle in her arms. The jingle of handcuffs sounded against an officer's leg as he breezed past, and a polite smile played on his lips when he noticed Stephanie until he took in her fully displayed ire and thought better of it. She dared anyone to smile at her with the way she was feeling.

While a generally nice person, Stephanie had grown sick of being the one to bail everyone else out — namely, her own husband. He often thrust himself into situations of a reckless nature, without any concern for what she thought or felt, but the second he ran into trouble and needed her to shovel him out of the enormous hole he dug, she was supposed to rescue without questioning. Glancing out of the tinted windows of the police station, Stephanie spied the glowing light poles and grew infuriated all over again that a phone call from jail had been enough to drag her out with her 3-year-old daughter in the middle of the night. If Chris was supposed to be leading their child by example then he was doing a hell of a job, and _not_ a good one.

The lazy scuttle of Chris's shoes across the filthy floor of the criminal-infested building sounded and, with a sharp turn, her glowering eyes settled on him. The more sheepish his expression grew, the more Stephanie longed to place their daughter down and claw his face off. Violence was never the answer, and not an action she was willing to condone, but it would have made her feel a hell of a lot better to unleash her aggression on Chris in the worst way possible rather than a calm conversation. Stephanie loved him tirelessly and without question, but certain occasions made it much easier to love him than others.

"Oh, you brought Windsor?" Chris spoke of their daughter while scratching the back of his neck.

Stephanie's hand twitched, itching to slap him right across the face for such an ignorant question, considering he should have been smart enough to know she couldn't just _leave_ their daughter behind in their hotel room while she went out to play super wife, but she contained herself. Rising to a stand, she pulled the car keys out of her sweater pocket in one swift motion and turned her back on him, marching straight out of the police station with Chris fast on her heels. If she dared answer his question, her voice would raise a few octaves too high and cause Windsor to stir, and their daughter didn't deserve to be privy to such tension. Stephanie wasn't going to punish their child for her father's outrageous mistakes.

With purse slung over shoulder and Windsor's head nodded off on her free one, Stephanie's shoes slapped against the pavement as she strode briskly across the near-deserted parking lot. It was late, in a place that was almost foreign to them, despite having visited Las Vegas previously, and all she wanted was to be tucked away safely in their hotel room. The unraveling pandemonium had all began at Raw earlier that evening. Chris made plans with friends and urged Stephanie not to wait up for him, since they planned to be out all night, but he just couldn't manage a few hours away from her without being arrested.

The piercing ring of her cell phone, Chris's entrance music acting as her ring tone, had cut through the silence of the room and jolted her from the graceful perimeters of sleep less than an hour before. He had begged from his end of the jailhouse collect call for Stephanie to post his bail and release him from what he deemed a hellhole, and she obliged because, even in the midst of her blind rage, he was still her husband and she didn't want him to be stuck in such a place. Chris was a good man, and certainly not the kind who deserved to be confined to a restrictive jail cell. For that reason, she was at such a loss as to why he would continuously do things that reflected so poorly on him.

When they reached their vehicle, a rented Cadillac Escalade, Stephanie broke the silent treatment she had thrust upon Chris and held Windsor out to him, "Get her buckled into the car seat."

"Okay," he answered a little more brightly than intended.

There wasn't a single positive point to his night, but Chris was so relieved to have her speaking to him again that he sucked her words up with all the force of a vacuum cleaner. He opened the back door and placed Windsor in her seat while Stephanie started the car and clicked her seat belt into place. By the time he finished buckling Windsor, Stephanie already had the car in reverse and backed out the second Chris slipped into his seat and shut the door. There was a jumble of thoughts he wanted to express, yet, he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth without fear of Stephanie chewing him out.

Even if she did, it wasn't as if he could blame her. His actions were the direct cause of his wife and child having to be out in the middle of the night, which was dangerous enough in itself, but to top it all off, he made a promise to Stephanie before going out that he wouldn't do anything that might get him into trouble. Chris didn't consider himself a criminal by any means, but his arrest hadn't been the first, and the fierce expression Stephanie wore said it all about how his choices were making her feel. He was letting her down, and it wasn't fair to do that when she brought him such immense joy.

"So, I know this isn't much, but I'm really sorry about tonight," Chris rubbed his hands along the thighs of his jeans and didn't dare look over at her. He had already done that seconds before and immediately regretted seeing the pain of his actions written all over her face.

"Whatever, tell that to your daughter in the morning," Stephanie replied before her eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror as she glanced in the backseat to make sure all was well. Quite impressively, Windsor was sleeping straight through all the chaos, her head nodded off to the side.

"Sheesh, I said I'm sorry," was Chris's response, and he couldn't have picked a worse one. In an instant, Stephanie was huffing mad as she turned onto the next road.

"You know, that's exactly your problem, Chris," she criticized. "You don't ever see the seriousness in what you do. Maybe it was fun for you to go out acting ridiculous and getting yourself arrested when you were younger, but this isn't funny anymore, all right? I mean, my God, you're 41 years old! You're a husband and a father, and you should really start thinking about how you're affecting your family instead of only worrying about yourself and how happy it makes you to party. You're ridiculous!"

"You really want to know what happened tonight? I took a whiz, okay?" Chris announced. A humorless chuckle escaped Stephanie in light of his drastic minimization of the issue at hand, but that didn't deter him. "I was taking a piss outside the club and a police officer caught me and arrested me for public urination. It's not that big a deal, and I wasn't going as crazy as you're making it out to be."

"Oh really? Tell me this, Chris — what's going to happen if that same cop just so happens to decide you have to register as a sex offender for life because you chose to whip your privates out in public, _then _what?"

"He's not even taking it that far!" he cried, causing Windsor to shift in her seat and release a deep breath. "Nobody saw anything, I had my back turned to everyone. Stop being so dramatic."

"It happens, and if you don't believe me, go do some research on the subject. Do you think it would have been _that _much harder to just go find a bathroom? They've got bathrooms in every club I've ever known about, so what would have been so hard about using one of those instead?"

"Uh, there was a long ass line."

"_Uh_," she shot back mockingly, "then pee in your pants, or explain the situation to the person in the front of the line to see if they'll let you cut. Anything would have been better than what you did, and when Windsor wakes up in the morning, you're going to be the one to sit her down and explain why her daddy was in jail tonight."

"Oh please, she won't even have a clue if you don't say anything," Chris rolled his eyes and leaned against his armrest. Stephanie was the light of his life, but there was no doubt he found her melodramatic and slightly insufferable on occasion. He hadn't done anything plenty of other people hadn't been guilty of, and Chris didn't intend on anything serious stemming from the matter. If he kept mum on the situation, Windsor would be none the wiser and they could pretend it never happened to begin with.

"I bet she doesn't appreciate having to be taken out of bed at three in the morning just so I can load her into the car to pick you up from jail. You know, since we left that place, I haven't heard one thing come out of your mouth that's been even remotely close to a sincere apology, and you should be ashamed for that. You don't care about anyone but yourself, and I've had it."

"I said I was sorry earlier, I guess you didn't hear me."

"No," Stephanie shook her head, "I heard the words, but I didn't feel the sincerity, and until I do, I'm not accepting it, and Windsor won't either. You need to take a step back and start asking yourself what's important in life, and if it's not your family then you've got some major issues you need to deal with."

"I never said you guys weren't important. I love both of you, and you know that," Chris ran his fingers over his face before dropping them down in his lap. Their talk wasn't going the way he planned, mostly since Stephanie's relentless anger hadn't been predictable to him. He expected her to be upset, but not to the point she would doubt what he felt for her. As she spoke her opinions, a part of them rang true, but Chris didn't take well to Stephanie accusing him of not putting his family first.

"You're not doing a very good job of showing it," she returned, and those words alone were enough to make his heart sink.

"Steph, baby, come on, you _know _I love you and Windsor. I messed up tonight, but I'll do better from now on. This won't happen again, you can trust me on that."

"Prove it and I will," she replied.

Chris was in for a long night.

A very long night indeed.

"My juice, my juice!" Windsor wailed in despair as she reached her hand over the counter in an attempt to grab the fruit juice pouch Stephanie had placed out for her. As with all things in a child's world, not having clear access to her desires at the exact moment she craved them presented a problem, but Stephanie came to the rescue, constantly donning her cape. She swiped the beverage off the counter and lowered it to Windsor's eager hands while regarding her with a loving smile.

"There you go, baby. Go sit on the couch and I'll bring you some animal crackers."

"I gonna make you a picture, Mommy," Windsor promised before making a break for the construction paper and crayons laying out for her on the table.

They were meant only as a temporary tool of distraction while Stephanie gathered their belongings so they could hit the road and travel to the next show. Stephanie's lack of sleep, thanks to Chris's rather distressing actions the night before, were going to play a huge role in how the day went, and it had already shifted into a downward slant. She didn't like holding onto resentment, but Stephanie couldn't help but feel Chris was making mistakes he should have been long past at his age and assumed maturity level. If he had been arrested, say, 10 years prior, her reaction may not have been so negative since they hadn't been married or had any children to speak of at that time.

Times had changed since then, and she expected Chris to live up to the expectations of the life partner he had vowed to be on their wedding day. He held a duty to lead by example for Windsor, and Stephanie didn't want her growing up thinking it was perfectly normal to witness her father getting arrested and generally wreaking havoc. The truth of the matter was that Stephanie trusted Chris to get his act together and didn't think what he had done was all that bad, but if she cemented her general displeasure, he would think twice before having a repeat of the night before. Right on cue with her thoughts, Chris stumbled into sight, scratching his bare chest as he traveled to the couch and plopped down right beside Windsor.

"Hi, Daddy!" Windsor dropped her crayon, forgetting all about the importance of coloring Stephanie a pretty picture, and leapt into his awaiting arms.

"Hi, bugger, what are you doing?" Chris mumbled, his eyelids drooping with drowsiness as he kissed the top of her head.

"I makin' Mommy a picture, and I make you one too," she pointed directly at him, and Chris caught her index finger in between his lips as Windsor screamed her delight and struggled to escape his hold. She tugged her finger away from his mouth and shook with laughter against Chris's chest. "Daddy, you silly."

"I'm silly?" he asked, pointing at himself in surprise as Windsor nodded.

"Uh-huh, you are," she repeated, her straw blond ponytail bobbing up and down with her motions.

Chris studied her with a smile as she returned to coloring until he felt a pair of watchful eyes on him and glanced across the room to find Stephanie watching like a hawk. She wasn't angry, or didn't _seem_ to be, but something about the way her eyes darted between him and Windsor made all the guilt from the night before come flooding back. It didn't matter that Windsor hadn't been told the details of what transpired, nor did it matter she was likely too young to care even if she had known. All that mattered was he had let his daughter down and, in that moment, Chris needed her to understand how sorry he was for a crime she wasn't even aware he committed.

Slipping off the couch and into a crouch position, Chris knelt behind Windsor and wrapped an arm around her as he pulled her close, "Hey, Winds, I've gotta talk to you for a sec."

"Talk?" she squinted. Chris allowed her to turn around in his arms and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I love you very much, sweetheart. You know that, right?"

"I love you, Daddy," she answered, tossing her arms around his neck. Her hug was enough to chase all his worries away, and as he glanced back at Stephanie, Chris was pleased to find a hint of a smile playing on her lips. Her expression cemented that she pushed him the way she did out of love and, at that precise minute, he couldn't possibly have felt any more fortunate. When Windsor finally pulled away, Chris held her steady by her arms.

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied. "You may not understand why I'm saying all of this, but I want you to know I love being your daddy, and I'm going to start setting a better example for you. I won't ever be perfect, but I'll try my absolute hardest to be everything you need. I'll always be the best father I can to you."

"You good, Daddy."

"Oh, I'm _already_ good?" he smirked.

"Yeah," Windsor tipped her head before falling into a sea of giggles, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world that she had such a great father. Chris was more thankful than ever that she viewed him in such a light.

"Thanks, princess. You get back to coloring and I'll come check on you in a bit."

"Mm-kay," she tossed over her shoulder before picking her crayon back up and scribbling a design on the piece of paper in front of her. Chris's eyes settled on Stephanie and remained there his entire way across the room. When she held her arms out to welcome him, Chris lurched into her embrace and snuggled his face directly between her neck and chin.

"I'm sorry," he whispered against her skin. She spoke only two words, which would unwittingly set the tone for the remainder of the day.

"All's forgiven."


	2. A Breath of Fresh Air

The blur of red and blue lights behind his vehicle had been enough to freeze his heart to glacier status. Aside from the sudden loss of a loved one, there was nothing in life Chris feared more than seeing a cop car with flashing lights in his rearview mirror, and especially when he was driving under the influence. As someone who had already lived through the horrors of being locked behind bars because of a DUI charge, it wasn't a can of worms he cared to re-open. Yet, somehow he had pulled the wool over the cop's eyes, the young man likely a rookie cop who still doubted his own abilities to properly enforce the law.

Popping a mint into his mouth to cover up the smell of lingering liquor had been a given, and since Chris was a skilled enough drinker that he was able to cover up his intoxication without slurring his words or nodding off, he was home free. After receiving only a verbal warning for driving over the speed limit, he was free to go on his merry way, but, even after the cop pulled away and drove out of sight, Chris couldn't bring himself to move. He thought about all the things that were in jeopardy because of the gamble he was taking. After arriving at Jay's house and dropping him off no more than 30 minutes before, he was left only with the task of driving himself home, and even in his slightly drunken stupor, he was aware enough to feel a single emotion at his actions: shame.

Stephanie and Windsor were his livelihood and represented everything good and right with his life, and if he were to end up in an accident and wrap his car around a telephone pole or, worse, kill an innocent person, everything he knew and loved would disappear. He would live out the rest of his days feeling guilty for what he had done, and, what's more, Stephanie had already warned him plenty of times about the dangers of his behavior. Suddenly, more than anything, Chris wished he could be splayed out on the couch with his family, watching a movie or enjoying some other form of innocent fun. There was a lot more to life than drinking with his friends, so he turned the key in the ignition, shutting the car off completely.

Finding his cell phone in his drunken haze wasn't the most fun of activities, but after locating it on the floor near the passenger seat, he called the only person he could trust in. It was late enough at night that she would be annoyed at being awoken prematurely, which was one of her biggest pet peeves, but she would also hopefully see the good in his calling her instead of taking a chance with his life _and_ theirs. With a hint of dread, Chris listened to the ring and waited for her to pick up. He was surprised to find she didn't sound drowsy at all, which meant she must have stayed awake later than usual.

"Hi, honey," she greeted. "Please tell me you're not doing anything that might get you into trouble."

Chris crumbled at that, dropping his forehead onto the steering wheel as his breathing grew heavier. "I'm an asshole."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm drunk, and I just drove Jay home from the club. That's an asshole move."

"You don't sound very drunk," Stephanie mentioned. "Normally, you bounce off the walls when you've got too much alcohol in your system."

"I didn't have as much to drink as I usually do, but I've gotta be over the legal limit."

"Pull your car over now," she said, morphing into all-business mode. She didn't sound angry, just slightly more assertive than usual. "I mean it, Chris, pull over."

"I already did. I got stopped by a cop."

"You _what_?" she screeched, causing him to pull the phone from his ear for a second to recover from the piercing sound of her shriek. "Oh, that does it. Didn't we already talk about this? I told you what I needed from you, and you go out and pull this crap again. There's only so many times I'm going to put up with this before I walk away from you."

"I don't want you to."

"You're making me!" she growled. "You're forcing my hand when you do this type of stuff. What did you expect my reaction to be? You know what? Hand the phone to the cop when he comes up to your car. I want to talk to him."

"He's already gone. He let me go with a warning."

He was met with silence for a short while before Stephanie's sarcasm poured through the receiver and landed in a puddle in his lap. "Oh, isn't that grand? You got away with drunk driving."

"I got a warning for speed, but that's why I'm calling. I need you."

"Yeah, well, sometimes Windsor and I need you."

At the mention of their daughter, he piped up, "Let me talk to her."

Stephanie sighed in exasperation. "Chris, it's past midnight. She's been asleep for hours."

"Will you come get me?" he asked, his voice a hint above a whisper. It felt wrong to ask so much of Stephanie when she had already done more for him than he probably ever deserved. She was the rock of the family, a role he felt he should have taken on a long time ago, but there was always room to change, and he wanted to prove to Stephanie that he knew how to be a genuine family man.

"What's going to change?" Stephanie asked, her voice equally as quiet. "Is it ever going to be better, or will this happen every night for the rest of our marriage?"

"I don't know what else I can say except that I'm sorry."

"I've heard that before."

"I'll do better."

"I've heard that before, too," she replied, her voice trembling at the end of her sentence. Before he could respond, she directed, "Stay where you are, and don't drive anywhere else. I'll be right there."

The click confirming the call's end sounded in his ear, and Chris held the phone in place another whole minute before he felt strong enough to lower it and wait. Stephanie hadn't been angry, but having her be so obviously disappointed in him hurt worse than anything else. Maybe he deserved to be in pain after all he had put Stephanie through, but he had never purposely gone out of his way to do things that would break her heart. He just had to change his idea of fun to something more acceptable, because he was getting older. Going out to party may have still been passable a decade ago, but he needed to be a different person now, for his wife and his daughter.

Being blanketed in darkness while he waited was good for Chris, because it gave him time to think about what he had done, just as a time-out session did for a disobedient child. It was a given that since Stephanie was coming to pick him up, she would have to get Windsor out of bed since nobody else was home to watch her, and that made him feel guilty all over again. His precious three-year-old daughter was being woken up in the middle of the night every single time he called Stephanie to bail him out, and that wasn't the kind of father he wanted to be. He was supposed to be a man she could look up to, but he was failing her in ways he hadn't imagined he ever could.

He rested his weary head against the steering wheel, almost nodding off completely a few times until, finally, a beam of headlights flashed across his dash, and he checked his mirror to find a vehicle pulling up behind him. As Stephanie pointed out, his past promises had been nothing but a bunch of useless words. If he hoped to gain any renewed respect from her as the provider of their family, he would have to prove himself solely with his actions. Stephanie wouldn't be able to put any trust into what he was saying until his behavior displayed something other than vulgar immaturity, and he couldn't blame her for wanting to see clear proof of the changes he was working on bringing to fruition.

As he was pulling his keys from the ignition, Stephanie's fingernails rapped lightly on his car window, and he waited for her to step aside before pushing the door open. She reached for his keys and motioned for him to step out of the car, pointing at where she was parked only a few yards back. "Go sit with Windsor while I lock your car up. I'll have to bring you back in the morning to pick it up. Let's hope vandals don't get to it first."

"I'm sorry."

"Then show me," Stephanie responded, pointing to her awaiting car. "Go watch Windsor."

Chris nodded and trudged to Stephanie's car, opening the passenger side door and sinking into the seat before shutting the door behind himself. Windsor stirred at the noise and whimpered. When Chris looked back, she was rubbing her eyes with her tiny balled fists, and he nearly burst into tears at the sight. His daughter, whom he loved more than any person walking the earth, was suffering because of his decisions, and if seeing her yanked out of bed wasn't enough of a wake up call, then nothing else would be. He reached into the backseat and picked her hand up, rubbing his thumb over top of it as he urged her back to sleep.

"It's okay, princess. Close your eyes, and before you know it, you'll be back in your own bed," he said, adding, "Daddy's going to make sure you never have to be pulled out of bed in the middle of the night again. It's not fair to you."

He was gearing up towards giving a whole speech, one Windsor probably wouldn't have registered in her drowsy condition and at her young age, but when he checked on her a second time, she was already beginning to doze. Chris continued holding her hand, rubbing it gently and breathing a sigh of relief when Stephanie returned with his car keys after making sure his vehicle was secure. He felt as if he should say something to her, but he didn't want their voices to wake their daughter, so coversation would have to wait until later. They began the fairly short drive home, and Chris held onto Windsor's hand the entire way.

When they pulled into their garage, Chris tried to rush out and take Windsor, but Stephanie didn't feel comfortable with him carrying her after drinking, no matter how little, so he waved him inside and took Windsor out of the car seat herself. Chris managed to press a brief kiss to Windsor's cheek before she was promptly carried up the stairs by Stephanie so she could get her settled in bed once more. They had recently made the transition with her to a big-kid bed, which she seemed to be liking. It made her feel more grown-up, which was an accomplishment kids almost perpetually strived to reach, so it all worked out well.

Stephanie kissed Windsor's forehead, making sure to leave her nightlight on before cracking the door and meeting Chris in their bedroom. He was peeling his clothes off in preparation for bed, and when he was left in only in boxers, he made a move to slide under the covers. Stephanie wasn't yet in her nightwear, since she'd been in the middle of watching television downstairs when he called, but she began getting changed, her enthusiasm for watching late-night movies ruined. When she slipped into bed beside Chris several minutes later, having freshly washed her face and brushed her teeth, his eyes were closed, but he remained awake.

"I know my words mean nothing at this point, and I don't blame you if you hold this against me forever."

"You still don't sound drunk to me," Stephanie said, her eyes traveling every inch of his body as she squinted in concentration. "Are you sure you had that much to drink tonight? Because I've seen you when you're _drunk_ drunk, and you wouldn't be lying here so calmly or speaking so clearly if you were."

"I had a drink, yeah," he answered.

"_A _drink?"

"Yep."

"So how do you figure you're drunk?"

"I think I am."

"If you were, the cop would have noticed. He would have definitely given you a field sobriety test."

"Maybe," he shrugged.

"Why do I feel like something's not adding up here?"

"The truth is," Chris began, "I was trying to cut down on my drinking, so when Jay called me to go out tonight, I told myself I would only have one or two drinks. I had more like 1 ½, and when I drove him home, I got to thinking about the last time I got arrested for DUI. Sometimes all it takes is a couple drinks and you're done, and then I thought about you and Windsor. I don't want you guys to suffer because of something I've done, but if I got myself sent to jail again, that's exactly what I would have caused. I couldn't believe how bad my luck was when I actually got pulled over by a cop."

"So you called me?" Stephanie asked.

"I did."

"I'm proud of you for that," she said, reaching out to pat his hand. "That, to me, already shows that you're making a conscious effort to change. In the past, you never would have thought to call me to come get you if you thought you were drunk, and you never would have cut yourself off after only two drinks. I see growth, but I want it to turn into something more. Keep working to be better, and I'll keep supporting you."

Chris raised up in bed and snuggled his face in the crook of Stephanie's neck, lowering his body on top of hers as she rubbed his back. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, adding, "Your support means everything in the world to me. It's all I'll ever need, and I won't toss it back in your face by messing up anymore."

"Good, because it's not only us anymore."

"I know it's not. We have a beautiful daughter who needs both of us, and I want to start being there for her every day of the week, the same way you are."

"Right, but it's not only us anymore," Stephanie repeated. Chris picked his head up, frowning when he caught sight of the smile threatening to peek through on her face. Her eyes danced in mischief, and he couldn't easily guess what she was up to, but something was definitely brewing in her head. Chris had known her long enough to be able to tell when she was carrying a secret.

"I know it's not only us," he repeated. "It's me, you, and Windsor."

"Got room for one more?" she raised an eyebrow, nudging Chris aside. He rolled off of her body, and she placed her hand on her stomach, rubbing it in a gentle circle while she smiled sweetly up at him. "This is what happens when I give into all of your late-night advances."

"You're pregnant?" Chris rushed out, bringing his hand to rest on top of hers.

"I've definitely got a bun in the oven. If you need proof, go check the five positive pregnancy tests in the bathroom."

"Why did you take so many?"

"I felt like one or two wouldn't be enough," she laughed. "I needed solid proof, and five positive tests was proof enough, plus, I remember how I felt when I first got pregnant with Windsor, and I've been feeling that way for the past few weeks."

Chris pushed her hand away from her stomach altogether and allowed his to take its place as he rubbed over her abdomen and hunched forward to press his lips to hers. Stephanie took his face in her hands, trailing them to his head, where she began running her fingers through his hair. Chris pulled away abruptly, a look of worry replacing his previous smile. "You can trust me, you know. I'll be here for you and both of our babies."

"I know you will," she said. "I wouldn't have put myself in a position where you could have gotten me pregnant again if I didn't trust that you would be willing to change for all of us. I think you feel like you have to be one way all the time, like you have to choose being a party guy or being a family guy. There's a way to have a happy medium and be both of them in moderation. You can still party with your friends without being reckless, and you can still be a father to Windsor and the new baby without becoming boring. You can have both."

"I love you _so_ much," Chris swept her body in his arms and pulled her into a sitting position, nearly hugging every last breath out of her.

He was still dropping kisses onto the top of her head when she responded, "I love you, too, and so does Windsor. Thank you for thinking of us before doing something that could have landed you in a world of trouble tonight."

"I want to be a changed man. I want to be better for you," he admitted, pressing his hand to her stomach once more. "For _all_ of you."

"If you want it, you can do it," she said, reaching forward to cup his cheek. "We miss you, Chris. Windsor asks me all the time why I'm the only one watching a movie with her at night and why you can't be there, too. We're all sad when you're gone, so try to give us a few nights a week where you stay home with us. I would never tell you not to hang out with your friends, but Fozzy takes you away from us quite a bit as it is, so try to work with us a little bit. You're needed desperately here."

"Well, I need all of you, too, so I'm going to put an end to all this crap I've been doing," he said, taking each of Stephanie's hands in his own. "Thanks for seeing enough in me to want another baby. I'll make you all proud, and that's a promise."

"You already do," Stephanie smiled, embracing him warmly. "You already do, honey."


End file.
